What’s more American than a round-the-country road trip in a vintage vehicle?

Fifth-generation roadbuilder Dan McNichol has been driving a rusty, 1949 Hudson from Massachusetts to the West Coast and back with the goal of bringing attention to the dire state of roads and bridges in this country.

The all-original Hudson, more than 60 years old, serves as a symbol of our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, much of which is nearing a half-century old. In the interview below McNichol details how he and his mechanic tweaked the car to make sure it was safe to drive, but otherwise left everything intact.

With sponsorship from Case Construction Equipment, McNichol has visited contractors, engineers, DOT officials and others to find out what people think about our failure to fund make enough money available to repair our roads and bridges. McNichol has also visited some of the country’s most impressive ongoing infrastructure projects and interviewed the people building these great projects. And if you’d like to meet Dan, he’ll be at ConExpo in the Case CE booth, along with the Hudson.

On his trip back east, McNichol swung south through Houston and up Interstate 20/59 to visit Equipment World at our headquarters in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a trip that coincided with the great Snowpocalypse of January 25 and 26. Despite some tense moments, and a two-day wait in Laurel, Mississippi, he made it just fine. Take a look at our interview with McNichol and a walk around of the ’49 Hudson in the interview below.